Friday, September 19, 2014

Is Technology a Curse?

As each year goes by, several new products in technology are developed. Technology is what now drives our society. Everyone is always looking for the next big thing they can get their hands on and how fast they can get it. For example, the iPhone. Just this month, the iPhone 6 was released. And only about two years ago, the iPhone 5 came out. Think about that, within only two years a whole new phone was developed with so many more advanced features. And from an even bigger perspective, we've only been using smart phones for about six years or so?

Being that our technology is continuing to advance so quickly, what's going to happen to say classic American pastimes? For example, moving going. Going to the cinema has been something that Americans have bonded over a little less than 100 years. The literal action of getting in your car, driving to the theater, and then sitting in a huge room full of strangers, can be seen as a great experience. It is what helps connects us to movies and people throughout our life. But now that we have DVD players and blu ray, we can simply just wait for the movie to come out and watch it on our TV. And by doing that, we completely miss the experience of going

out to the movie. If anything it is also isolating us because if we go see a movie, we are more likely to ask a friend to accompany us, where as in the comfort of my own home I don't need someone to watch TV, or a movie with me. You can also go online and stream episodes that you missed on TV or want to re-watch. You can also subscribe to different websites such as Netflix, or Hulu Plus, and stream movies or shows. Netflix is one of the biggest streamers that people subscribe to. I know coming to college, mostly everyone has Netflix. And if you don't, then you need to find a friend with it ASAP and use their account. It has now become such an essential

part in our society. So much so that in some of my classes I have been told to watch movies on Netflix for homework. They literally have said, "it is on Netflix, so watch it there for homework", assuming we all had Netflix. This just proving that it is so common that professors are automatically assuming that everyone has it.

Even before you could stream it from your computer, Netflix was personally delivering to your home the specific movie you had chosen. Thus, just making it easier to not leave the house once they streamed online. And now, not only does Netflix stream movies, or past season of TV shows, they now have TV shows that premiere on Netflix. So now not only are we eliminating going to the movies, or leaving our home to go to the DVD store, we are also getting rid of the need to have a TV in our homes altogether. And if we do have a TV it is merely to say we have a TV.

Netflix, or shows like it come up in our everyday conversations. It is something we actually bond over which is weird if you think about it because by watching netflix we are isolating ourselves from social interaction. People are constantly blogging about it, like myself, or using it as an ice breaker in social settings, and they are even using it as an excuse to get out of social gatherings.

Netflix is everywhere we go! And it is ultimately eliminating the need to go anywhere. And what does that mean for our cinema fanatics? And does this mean it is eventually going to get rid of cinema altogether? Or having TV shows on a cabel channel, and waiting a week for each new episode to premiere? It is a scary thought because it is getting rid of things that we have had for so long. Cinema has been around for as long as I can remember, my parents can remember, or even my grandparents! I remember growing up I always wanted to go to the theater and watch every new movie that had come out. It was something I looked foward to because watching it at home just wasn't the same. Being put in a theater setting automatically makes you feel as if you're in the movie, watching from a distance. And don't get me wrong, I love Netflix. It's convenient and easy to use, but what does that say about us? Are we justing using it because we are too lazy to get up and go somewhere? Are we too busy with everything else that we can't and don't want to make time to go to the movies? I mean if that's the case, then America, along with other countries are going to never leave their homes. Especially because of how fast technology products are being introduced.

Needless to say I hope in my lifetime and several other people's lifetimes, that going to the theater to watch a movie is still going strong.